Great Hayes Farmhouse

Great Hayes Farmhouse is a house dating back to the 16th century, with alterations made in the 18th, 19th, and 20th centuries. The building is timber-framed, with plaster rendered over some timber, and a facade of red brick in a Flemish bond pattern. The roof is largely slate, with some handmade red clay tiles.

The house comprises four blocks of different dates. The original core is a two-bay north-south building, possibly the crosswing of a medieval hall house, with a jettied north side. This was likely built in the 16th century or earlier, and the roof was rebuilt in the early 19th century. A further extension, likely from the 18th or early 19th century, is situated to the south, with a central stack at the junction between the original block and the extension. To the east of the original block is a two-bay north-south building from the early 16th century, also jettied to the north, with a hipped roof, partly or wholly rebuilt. A western entrance range, dating from the early 19th century, faces west. Internal stacks are located in each return of this range.

The original farmhouse consists of two storeys with an attic. The western facade, brick-faced and dating back to the late 19th century, features two full-height square bays and a central entrance. The windows have been altered with 20th-century small-pane sashes, 4 on the ground floor and 5 on the first. A 20th-century door replaces the original. A late 19th-century gabled porch has been removed. The north elevation is more complex in design being the original front, and block 3 features exposed brackets below the jetty, close studding above, jowled posts, 'Suffolk' tension bracing trenched to the outside, and a tiled hipped roof, partly or wholly rebuilt. Block 1 has a projecting central beam with an exposed bracket on the upper storey, and an early 19th-century sash window with crown glass. The interior of block 1 showcases chamfered axial and transverse beams with step stops, and joists plastered to the soffits. Block 3 features a chamfered binding beam and plain joists with tenons. Block 2 contains a wood-burning hearth, a chamfered axial beam with run-out stops, and some exposed studding with straight bracing. An original staircase with a wreathed handrail and stick balusters remains in the entrance hall. The north stack of the second range has been altered at ground floor level. The name “Great Hayes” originates from Robert de la Haye, recorded in 1248. A Hearth Tax assessment from 1662 indicates four hearths. The building originally functioned as a manor house.